My car has always ran at about 180 but the when i put in a new thermostat it now runs at 220 that scares me could use a little imput on why? and what temp is a good one to run the car at?

Thanks for reading

(O its a 305 tbi stock)

 

195.

 

i think you should put that old t-stat back in.. 220 is HOT.. 180 was probably the best.. its a good average.. my 385 runs at 165-70 on the road and can get up to 185 at the races.. when there is wind, its from tower side to spectator side.. pretty much parallel to the car.. or it comes from the back.. no action on the radiator in the staging lanes.. on those chilly nights (55ish) i can run 155 on the highway.. god i love that HUGE AL radiator..

 

Listen to 5-7-kid. Unless you have changed the chip (you didn't say what yr. your car is) to run with a cooler thermoustat (180* or lower) you will start getting a code 32 (EGR). What temp. stat did you put in? Have you replaced the radiator? Old radiators tend to plug up in the center of the core and a lower thermoustat will will stay open and not leave the coolant in the radiator long enough to cool off. Cooler thermoustat only applies to non computer engines unless the chip in a computerized engine is changed. A new radiator runs about 110.00 to 130.00 bucks.

 

I run a 180.

But then again im running something not even remotely close to a stock motor....

 

Running a 160. When cruising around town in the summer (stop and go...etc) it runs around 175-180.

If I drive long enough with no stops, it will go down to 160. Never had a problem when it does, never threw any codes, and never seen any decrease in performance. But 95% of the time, the car is at 175-180.

 

I'll echo that mine is far from stock non-computer controlled. The thermostat is a 180 but the temp is set by the cooling fans.
First comes on at 190 and second at 195. This way there is max coolant flow before the fans run. The idea is to run the fans as little a possible because the fans cost gas mileage and horsepower to run.
Above 55 mph the temp will drop to 180 because the air dam is supplying the air. This helps with heat "bloom" when you roll to a stop after a hard run and the temp climbs.
To further help with horsepower, I shut down the alternator at WOT so if the fans are on they get their power from the battery instead of the engine. A simple switch is good for 3+ horsepower at WOT and the engine stays cool .